Miller's Journal

[Minanora]

He's a master 

[Odd Duck]

On 12/2/2022 at 1:08 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I tried to glue the wood together, and both super glue and hot glue gun wouldn't hold the 2 pieces together.

I’ve not tried it myself, but I’ve seen demos on video and live, where they used cigarette filters (new, of course) and pack them between 2 pieces of wood (or dry rock for reefs), then saturate it with liquid superglue.  It gives more surface area to adhere and fills in some of the uneven space.  For wood, I see them adding gel glue over the glued filters and crumbling some of the “planted tank substrate” and sprinkling it over and packing it into the gel to hide the filter material.

If that doesn’t work, I would drill a hole in the back piece, a slightly smaller hole in the front piece (just a pilot hole) where you want to adhere them.  Then get a lag screw and screw them together from the back.  If they overlap and touch in enough places, you could do multiple touch points.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Odd Duck
Fix double post.

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/3/2022 at 8:43 PM, Odd Duck said:

I’ve not tried it myself, but I’ve seen demos on video and live, where they used cigarette filters (new, of course) and pack them between 2 pieces of wood (or dry rock for reefs), then saturate it with liquid superglue.  It gives more surface area to adhere and fills in some of the uneven space.  For wood, I see them adding gel glue over the glued filters and crumbling some of the “planted tank substrate” and sprinkling it over and packing it into the gel to hide the filter material.

If that doesn’t work, I would drill a hole in the back piece, a slightly smaller hole in the front piece (just a pilot hole) where you want to adhere them.  Then get a lag screw and screw them together from the back.  If they overlap and touch in enough places, you could do multiple touch points.

Funny that you posted this. I saw a video too, so today I bought a cigarette off a coworker and ripped the filter off and have it. She looked at me funny and I chuckled 😁. 

Did they use regular super glue or the gel to cause the reaction? I bought both but only have the one butt.

I also bought reef epoxy that dries brown. I figure the screw method is the nuclear option!

[Odd Duck]

They used the watery liquid on the filters, then after it was set or as it was setting, they sprinkled the join with substrate.  If that didn’t cover the filter enough, they added gel type glue and packed substrate into the gel.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Odd Duck
Typo

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/3/2022 at 8:54 PM, Odd Duck said:

They used the watery liquid on the filters, then after it was set or as it was setting, they sprinkled the join with substrate.  If that didn’t cover the filter enough, they added gel type glueand packed substrate into the gel.

Perfect, ty.

[Jungle Fan]

On 12/3/2022 at 8:43 PM, Odd Duck said:

I’ve not tried it myself, but I’ve seen demos on video and live, where they used cigarette filters (new, of course) and pack them between 2 pieces of wood (or dry rock for reefs), then saturate it with liquid superglue.  It gives more surface area to adhere and fills in some of the uneven space.  For wood, I see them adding gel glue over the glued filters and crumbling some of the “planted tank substrate” and sprinkling it over and packing it into the gel to hide the filter material.

If that doesn’t work, I would drill a hole in the back piece, a slightly smaller hole in the front piece (just a pilot hole) where you want to adhere them.  Then get a lag screw and screw them together from the back.  If they overlap and touch in enough places, you could do multiple touch points.

@Odd Duck You can buy Raw Regular Natural Unrefined Cotton Filter Tips, 8mm in bags of 200EA for a little less than $5.00, make sure you don't use the gel type super glue for this though, it won't soak as easily into the cotton as the regular more liquid type and would dry before the cotton is soaked, after you attach the rocks, or wood to each other spray them with water to set and right after apply some sand to cover up what would turn white, When I used to do Amano style aquascapes I used to do this all the time, sometimes, on larger pieces I would also hold them together with zip strips until I was sure the pieces had set and were correctly cemented together, then I would just cut the zip strips off. For larger pieces I would sometimes soak 3, or 4 filters.  

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/30/2022 at 5:53 PM, Patrick_G said:

What's this plant? I have some that look very similar and the LFS called it Willow Hygro. 

Did some digging, maybe Hygrophila angustifolia?

Ah Willow hygro is angustifolia.

[Patrick_G]

On 12/4/2022 at 9:02 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Did some digging, maybe Hygrophila angustifolia?

Ah Willow hygro is angustifolia.

Thanks, that was my best guess too. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 11/21/2022 at 12:23 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Mhmm

 

Anyone know what moss they are using in the middle foreground? 

@gjcarew @Patrick_G

[gjcarew]

On 12/4/2022 at 7:40 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Anyone know what moss they are using in the middle foreground? 

@gjcarew @Patrick_G

Fissidens fontanus

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/4/2022 at 8:59 PM, gjcarew said:

Fissidens fontanus

Difficult?

[gjcarew]

On 12/4/2022 at 8:12 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Difficult?

Nah with medium light and a little CO2 it looks great. It survives in low tech but doesn't get so bushy. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/4/2022 at 9:15 PM, gjcarew said:

Nah with medium light and a little CO2 it looks great. It survives in low tech but doesn't get so bushy. 

Perfect, thank you.

[Minanora]

It is very slow growing though. I love it, I have it in my 75. It likes a decent flow and a bit more light than the usual moss in my experience.

[Odd Duck]

Yep, either fontanus or Fiss. sp. “Thailand”.  It gets pretty long fronds and has deep cuts similar to fontanus.

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/5/2022 at 12:59 PM, Odd Duck said:

Yep, either fontanus or Fiss. sp. “Thailand”.  It gets pretty long fronds and has deep cuts similar to fontanus.

It's lovely, I think I want to try it.

[Odd Duck]

On 12/4/2022 at 12:05 AM, Jungle Fan said:

@Odd Duck You can buy Raw Regular Natural Unrefined Cotton Filter Tips, 8mm in bags of 200EA for a little less than $5.00, make sure you don't use the gel type super glue for this though, it won't soak as easily into the cotton as the regular more liquid type and would dry before the cotton is soaked, after you attach the rocks, or wood to each other spray them with water to set and right after apply some sand to cover up what would turn white, When I used to do Amano style aquascapes I used to do this all the time, sometimes, on larger pieces I would also hold them together with zip strips until I was sure the pieces had set and were correctly cemented together, then I would just cut the zip strips off. For larger pieces I would sometimes soak 3, or 4 filters.  

Yes, I should have mentioned that I’ve read the filters can be found on Amazon.

[anewbie]

On 12/5/2022 at 2:03 PM, Odd Duck said:

Yes, I should have mentioned that I’ve read the filters can be found on Amazon.

filters? I too want the moss - but one concern what i read suggested it does not like a lot of warmth... still i think it looks great.

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/5/2022 at 1:04 PM, anewbie said:

filters? I too want the moss - but one concern what i read suggested it does not like a lot of warmth... still i think it looks great.

I keep my tank at 76 and in the summer they hit about 78.

[Odd Duck]

On 12/5/2022 at 2:02 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

It's lovely, I think I want to try it.

It should be fairly easy to find fontanus. The ‘Thailand’ will be much harder to find and so similar I wouldn’t worry about finding it, just use fontanus.  All the Fissidens are slow growing, so patience will be key.  Get more than you think you’ll need and you might consider growing it on something as a dry start, then adding that to your thank.

If you want something with a more tidy, tight growing pattern, look for F. geppii.  It will require almost no maintenance, even less than fontanus.

[anewbie]

On 12/5/2022 at 2:06 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I keep my tank at 76 and in the summer they hit about 78.

That's the same temp i keep the tank i want to carpet. I just saw a comment the stuff grows better in cool water but didn't see an actual temp requirement.

[Odd Duck]

Most mosses like cooler water but I’ve got Fissidens geppii growing in my angelfish tank at 82.  It would probably grow faster at 76, but it’s growing fast enough for me.   Well, when I’m feeling patient, anyway.  😆 

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/5/2022 at 1:42 PM, Odd Duck said:

Most mosses like cooler water but I’ve got Fissidens geppii growing in my angelfish tank at 82.  It would probably grow faster at 76, but it’s growing fast enough for me.   Well, when I’m feeling patient, anyway.  😆 

Can you post a picture of it? Geppi looks like it has a bit taller growth.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[Odd Duck]

On 12/5/2022 at 2:46 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Can you post a picture of it? Geppi looks like it has a bit taller growth.

Mine doesn’t yet.  It’s still all baby moss since I did a dry start.  I had at least one snail mow a path through it, too.

 

The original growths I took my start from has faded bad but it’s coming back.  But it’s not back to long, either.

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/5/2022 at 2:12 PM, Odd Duck said:

Mine doesn’t yet.  It’s still all baby moss since I did a dry start.  I had at least one snail mow a path through it, too.

 

The original growths I took my start from has faded bad but it’s coming back.  But it’s not back to long, either.

Awesome. As mentioned, almost identical. Sweet, thanks for posting this.